Christchurch quake victims may be buried in mass grave

Rescuers among the ruins of the CTV building in Christchurch where students and staff were buried in the quake. Photograph: Marty Melville/AFP/Getty Images

Some victims of Christchurch's earthquake may never be identified and their remains may be buried in a mass grave, New Zealand's chief coroner has said.

Police have named 169 victims of the magnitude 6.3 earthquake that hit the city on 22 February, but say they have yet to identify partial remains of others and the final death toll may be 180.

The chief coroner, Neil McLean, told National Radio on Thursday that in some cases the remains were so damaged or small that identification even by DNA analysis might not be possible.

McLean said he would meet victims' families and embassy staff representing international victims in Christchurch to discuss the progress of the identification effort and what should be done with remains that can not be identified.

If identification by medical or scientific means was not possible, an inquest would be held for some victims.

"We will hear what we call circumstantial evidence witnesses or CCTV coverage. All those things where we can get to a stage where we can say although we have not recovered anything identifiable, they died on this date and the likely cause of death is this," McLean said.

It was possible that some remains could be buried in a mass grave.

All of the victims still to be identified were from the Canterbury Television building that completely collapsed in the quake. Students from Japan, China and other countries were among those buried in the building, which housed an English-language school.